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Two big games await
TYRONE rolled through the gears to swat aside Offaly in an impressive second-half showing at Dungannon last Saturday night, but we wouldn’t be reading too much into that (they filleted Cavan a few short weeks ago before falling short against Louth). The Red Hands still aren’t completely out of the woods, though the way Cavan and Kildare are playing at the moment, five points may be enough to survive. Not that that’s what we want – we want Tyrone to finish on a high note before the Championship season, and how they perform against second-placed Meath and third-placed Cork could tell a story.
Meenagh making his mark
CIARÁN Meenagh played a leading role in Loughmacrory’s surge to a historic Tyrone Senior Championship title last year, and it was always going to be interesting to see how he’d get on at the helm of the Derry footballers. He already knew the players well from his previous involvement in a coaching capacity, and under his tutelage they already seem to be making big strides after two very lean years. They walloped Cork last weekend by 1-31 to 0-14 to move into pole position in Division Two, and they’ll harbour serious aspirations of carrying their form into the Championship.
Oisin did well
MORE praise for a Loughmacrory man. Niall Morgan has made the number one jersey his own for more than 10 years at this stage, winning two All-Stars along the way, but he wasn’t really at the peak of his powers in the early stage of the league and St Teresa’s goalkeeper Oisin O’Kane was selected to start against Offaly – and he did very well. Being a sub goalie must be mentally tough given the lack of game-time, so O’Kane’s patience was commendable and he’ll learn so much from playing in games like these. It’ll be interesting to see if it develops into a battle for the number one jersey.
The importance of two-pointers
TWO-POINTERS aren’t necessarily the ticket to Sam, but they’re vitally important and it’s revealing that Donegal are top of the charts on that front in Division One at the moment. Since the rule was introduced just over a year ago, Tyrone haven’t really mad hay with long-range scores. They did muster two at the weekend, which was an improvement, via Ruairi Canavan, who had a fine game, and Brian Kennedy, but one swallow doesn’t make a summer and we’ll need to see more of it if we’re to dine at the top table later in the year.
